Beer: Reviews & Ratings

On tap at the Blind Tiger 3/19/05. Dark chocolate brown that you cannot see through at all, with a touch of a dusting and ring of thick, heavy khaki head. Not much coming from the aroma -not very strong, just a bit of coffee, some semi-sweet chocolate, and a tiny bit of hops. Smooth and silky, it flows nice and you really do not feel the carbonation-which I enjoy. A lot of dark coffee and sweet chocolate in the flavor, and a lot of flavor left to linger on the palate. Very nice and very drinkable. (502 characters)

Pours a dark silky brown with a light, crisp head. Aroma is strong in oatmeal, quite chocolatey and with some espresso beans (not like roasted beans, but like chocolate-covered beans). Mouth is very smooth and creamy. Very lite carbonation. Taste is a strong oatmeal presence with slightly bitter aftertaste. A good amount of pale malt is present. Smooth and creamy but the flavor is a bit off, or at least just not for me. I wouldn't get it again, but I'm sure others would like it. (483 characters)

S/T: Very smokey with a good amount of nuttiness. On the taste, the smokiness takes on a meaty salami quality. Weird, but not ass off-putting as it sounds. The oatmeal quality is noticeable, giving it a bit of a different sweetness and toastiness.

M: Very slick, a bit too flat, but that may have had what to do with the cask being a few days old.

D: Great flavors, but smokiness and the slickness don't mesh well. I look forward to trying this on tap. (551 characters)

Looked good  near black with about an inch of tan head courtesy of the nitro tap at the Blind Tiger, which left nice rings retained well by the pint glass. Smelled good like a good stout should  roasted chocolate malts swirled with toffee; the oats were present if didnt come through as much as I like. But on the tongue, the diacytl that produced that pleasant toffee aroma was overwhelming. I wished Id ordered a second Chelsea Dry Irish Stout. I didnt taste a whole lot here because of the overwhelming buttery flavors, but theres some molasses and roast coffee going on. It was smooth and creamy, despite. Id try it again just to make sure that I didnt just get a bad batch, but I was disappointed with this one. (732 characters)

Poured rich chocolate, left light lacing. Nose of chocolate, coffee, caramel, and malts. Tasted oats, chocolate, coffee, caramel...all the best ingredients for a rich, tasty stout. This could be one of my top 10 stouts, very rich and tasty. Highly recommend! (258 characters)

My first cask growler--let's see how it goes. Poured into an American pint glass.

A--Pitch black with no head, just a few bubbles like you'd get from water if you got it too fast from the faucet. Looks like a glass of black coffee sitting there, which takes some getting used to...

S--Smells like coffee, too, and that's not just because I'm mentally primed for it. There's also some sweet smoke and even slight, slight hops.

T--Sturdy, sturdy stout--my goodness does the black malt hit you. There's also considerable hops here, as the roof my mouth is positively singing from parched out roasted flavors. As far as flavor goes, plenty of pipe tobacco, followed by bittersweet chocolate, a bit more coffee (though less than the nose), and as you travel back a bittering dry hops. Smooth, balanced construction, but where's the oatmeal? Lacking seriously in that department, and while I never expect traditional from Sixpoint--the hops presence here, for example--they should at least /sort of/ reflect the style.

M--This might be the best part of the beer, and the real ale component only boosts it. Super creamy and rich, a thick without being heavy feel that's almost pitch perfect stout.

D--What's the ABV, like six percent? Hell yeah I'll have another! The smoothness of the mouthfeel and the dry back end of this brew make it easily sessionable, especially in December about-to-snow temperatures. (1,406 characters)

Poured an opaque black color with a large cascading head. Great retention and lacing. Nose was heavy on coffee and roasted barley. Taste hits you with a sweet sugared coffee and toasty barley flavor. Also to be found is light caramel, powdered chocolate, and mild hops. Nice mouthfeel and very drinkable. Tasty! (311 characters)

A- Black. Almost Black Hole Black with a almost two finger dark tan Head. Truly a beauty, great retention and amazing lacing.

S- Oatmeal, coffee, chocolate, and dark things that live in the shadows, but what a hoppy nose for an IRS. Just so unexpected but quite welcomed.

T- Dark malt and a certain cream aspect are the forefront but a dy hop finish. Truly unique. I dont think Ive had a stout with this much of a hop character at the end. I truly loved it.

M- Nitro pours makes all the difference for stouts. Its just the perfect mouthfeel. I truly believe all stouts should be Nitro. I know its a pain in the ass for bartenders but it truly elevates the beer to a new level.

O- Outstanding. Great stout with a unexpected hop character but the guys from Sixpoint have a pretty unique beer here and I absolutely loved it.

Had this on tap at Rattle N' Hum after having their IPA the night before. I was told they just changed the keg when I ordered.

Color was a nice milk chocolate brown and the smell was pleasant.

Upon first sip I thought, "Oats, thick, pretty good." Unfortunately, then came the bitterness. I must say that I am a fan of all that is dark beer and stouts but this was the most bitter beer I have ever encountered. There was no hop character, just bitter. I sincerely hope I just got a bad beer because I did enjoy their IPA. Hopefully I'll get to have a proper pint of it later on.

(Probably didn't help that Rattle N' Hum had it listed as a Sweet Stout. It was the polar opposite of anything sweet.) (702 characters)